


A Gift Of The Sea

by Nelioe



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Not Related, Awkward Kili, Boys Kissing, FiKi December Challenge, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt Fíli, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Remembrance Story, kissing for merfolk isn't the same as kissing for humans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 12:50:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5586079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nelioe/pseuds/Nelioe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kili had hoped for his vacation by the sea to turn out differently, instead of sun he got dull days full of rain, followed by an awful storm. Coming to this place seemed like one of his worst desicions, but with the change of weather might all also come a change of perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Gift Of The Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Linane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linane/gifts).



> I was looking for prompts for the FiKi December Challenge and [Linane](http://linane-art.tumblr.com/) asked for: "how about a classic: Fili is a merman washed ashore during a storm and injured, Kili finds him?"
> 
> I really hope I could do your prompt justice. I changed the plot like five times, because nothing I had planned wanted to work out.
> 
> I hope you like it!

 

 

Kili was glad to finally get out of the holiday home. He was actually here to relax a bit after stressful months of working in the company of his uncle. He truly needed some days off, but since he’d come here it had rained non-stop, followed by a terrible storm yesterday. There was still no electricity, but Kili hoped this problem to be solved during the day. Right now he was just glad to get finally out. The wind outside was still strong and tearing at his clothes and hair and although it felt far from comfortable it was better than being cooped up all the time.

The fresh air, heavy with the smell of the sea, made him sigh with relief. Gloomy looking grey clouds covered the sky, swallowing every ounce of sunlight and holding this place captive in a strange mixture of day and night. Breaking waves gushed over the sand as Kili began walking at the beach, hoping it wouldn’t start raining again.

Unfortunately his guns were spiked, for he hadn’t managed to get very far when a figure in the distance caught his gaze, lying motionless on the ground. Kili’s eyes widened with shock as he broke into a run. Had somebody gotten hurt doing the storm? Who would be so careless to venture outside in such weather? What if that person was dead? He didn’t want to think about it as he sprinted over to him and it was a him, he noted only a few metres away, trying not to stumble over the soft sand, for the guy’s chest was far too flat to belong to a woman.

Reaching the other, however, Kili stopped suddenly. Looking the blond man over, long hair covering the sand like a blanket and deep cuts visible on his naked body, the brunet blinked in disbelief. He turned around, glancing at the buildings of holiday homes in the distance and inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm his rapidly pounding heart, which was in no way connected to the run. He had to be completely overworked and the days looked up inside due to the weather mustn’t benefitted him either. There was no way on earth what he just believed to have seen was true.

But when he deemed himself calm enough and faced the figure once more it was still there. He must’ve gone crazy. Mermen didn’t exist! Despite telling himself that, though, the figure didn’t disappear, still lay there, washed ashore and unconscious, if not dead.

“Shit!” It was this thought, which yanked Kili from his trance.

Kneeling down beside the strange creature he felt for a heartbeat, his shoulders sagging with relief when he was greeted by a strong pulse. The cuts appeared to be pretty bad, red, angry wounds, partly coated with sand and forming a centre for infection. The tail of the blond man was equally hurt, the deep blue colour seeming strangely pale, like the paleness the skin of a human about to freeze to death would assume. This creature…, this man, was definitely not alright and needed help. But what should he do? It wasn’t like he could call an ambulance and get him to the hospital. This was a merman, something that shouldn’t even exist.

Leaving him wasn’t an option either. Kili wasn’t that kind of guy, walking away from trouble and not giving a shit about other people. Still, this was more than he could cope with. How was he supposed to help a merman? He didn’t even know if he was allowed to heave him out of the water. Did creatures like him need to stay wet all the time? What if he killed him by accident when he actually intended to help? If there was just someone he could call. But it wasn’t like someone had tended to a mer before and was able to give him any advice, quite the contrary, they would probably think he’d lost his mind. Yeah… no.

It seemed like he had to act and find out. It was either that or leaving the blond here. Therefore he carefully lifted the man into his arms, his skin feeling alarmingly cold. Hot breath hit his neck where the other’s head rested on his shoulder. Kili was thankful for it. As long as he breathed everything would be fine… or at least that was what he told himself.

His gaze roamed over the beach and the homes nearby during the whole way back, fearing to be spotted by someone. But luck was with him and the vacationers and residents seemed to stay inside, perhaps not trusting the weather or worrying about how to make coffee without electricity.

Laying him down on the couch Kili didn’t hesitate and hurried to the bathroom, grateful for the first-aid kit and the antiseptic in one of the bathroom cabinets, on his way back he grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen. Boiling water wasn’t possible, so he hoped cleaning and disinfecting the cuts would suffice. The brunet had never treated wounds of someone else before, but how hard could it be?

Pretty hard, he learned not much later, at least when injuries were caked with dried blood and he didn’t want to rub the dirt clinging to them deeper into the cuts. He managed somehow and only when he was about to bandage wound after wound his involuntary guest stirred. It startled Kili with its suddenness, from where he’d been too immersed in his task, the bandage slipped from his hands and rolled over the floor, leaving a trace of clean white fabric on the carpet.

The shock and rigidity it shooed into his body didn’t last long, however, and Kili leaned forward, trying to find out if the movement had only been an unconscious reflex to the pain the antiseptic must’ve caused or if the blond was truly about to wake up. Eyes painted in the colour of the sea opened and wandered confused through the room. The merman didn’t seem very coherent and with each passing second Kili became more and more worried. Perhaps the blond had hurt his head as well. He could treat external injuries, but what if there were more than the eyes could see?

“Hey,” Kili therefore whispered softly, hoping to catch the man’s attention. If it worked it had to be enough to tell if he had a concussion, wouldn’t it? Although… did merfolk even speak English?

The answer wasn’t coming immediately, for the blond glanced at him at the noise, but there was no sign of recognition on his features, if it came from a language barrier or if he just couldn’t class the person next to him, Kili couldn’t say.

When the blond opened his mouth Kili leaned forward in anticipation, but instead of words a croak left his lips, followed by a coughing fit. The brunet’s heart felt like it missed a beat at the sight.

“Oh! Oh, wait!” Reaching for the bottle of water he hurriedly opened it, lifted the merman’s head carefully and poured a small amount of water into the other’s mouth.

Which turned out to be a bad idea. The merman choked on the water and spat most of it out again, coughing only worse now. The bottle slipped from Kili’s hand, drenching the carpet while he cursed, helping the blond to roll onto his side and ease the fit.

“Shit! I’m sorry!” Kili quickly apologised, feeling a panic attack approach at the sight. “I’m bad at this. I’m so sorry! I thought you needed water and-,“ he couldn’t even finish his sentence, wondering if creatures like him even needed to drink. What if something as trivial as this would poison him?

Oh God, he was still coughing rather badly! Droplets of water and salvia were ensnarled in his short beard, with tears leaking from his painfully looking clenched eyes. Kili had only wanted to help and had made it worse in the process. But damn it, he worked in an office! A boring, uneventful office! How was he supposed to know how to treat an injured person? There were doctors and ambulance services if something bad happened. Of course he had to come across a mer and turn out to be pretty useless!

Thankfully the coughing stopped eventually, although it wasn’t really helping against the nausea rolling around in his stomach and the terrible heat his furiously pounding heartbeat sent through his body. The blond took a few deep breaths, gaze focussing on Kili’s nervous shape.

“What-,“ he started, but his voice broke already after this one word.

“I… I found you at the beach… you were… are... hurt and… and I tried to help,” Kili explained awkwardly, pretty sure by now the blond would’ve been far better off on his own, instead of the brunet’s questionable, but well-intended attempts.

The blond frowned at him before he slowly began to turn his head, inspecting his body and the cleaned cuts, only half of them bandaged so far. Returning his gaze to Kili he swallowed hard.

“Thank you,” he said in a thick melodic accent.

“You're welcome!” The brunet hurriedly replied. He didn’t want to appear rude, but since his head was screaming at him from too many impressions and trying to sort the fact out that there was a merman lying on his couch, accompanied by the guilt of being an utter failure when it came to taking care of others, an uncomfortable silence covered the room.

Averting his eyes to escape the intense gaze of the blond Kili opened his mouth to say something, but when no clear thought crossed his mind and no sound wanted to come out, he closed it again, feeling immensely stupid and unprepared.

“Fili,” the merman spoke eventually, causing Kili to look up and tilt his head in confusion.

“What?”

The blond pressed a hand to his chest. “Fili,” he repeated.

“Oh!” Kili blurted out when it dawned on him. “It’s you name!”

Fili nodded with a grin.

“So weird,” Kili chuckled. “I’m Kili,” he introduced himself.

“Fili and Kili,” the blond said.

“Fili and Kili,” he confirmed with a smile. Now who would’ve guessed? First he found a merman at the beach and now it turned out they had rhyming names. “Do you mind if I continue bandaging your wounds?”

Fili shook his head, still staring at him with those deep blue eyes. At least now that the ice was broken it didn’t feel as intimidating anymore as it had before. To be precise, there seemed to reside something kind in the irises, or perhaps Kili had finally started seeing things. Looking at how the day turned out it wouldn’t be that surprising.

He decided to muse about his state of mind at another time and continued to bandage the cuts, the whole time feeling Fili’s gaze on him. It didn’t take long for him to finish, although he couldn’t help but check his work as soon as he was done. After the disaster with the water he didn’t want to take the risk.

At last satisfied, he tried to lean back, but a hand sneaked into his hair, pulling him close to the blond’s face and before he was able to react or wonder what was going on, lips pressed against his in a brief but tender kiss. Completely gobsmacked he stared at Fili, whose expression was a mask of bright smiles.

“Is thank-you,” Fili explained, releasing the brunet’s head and allowing him to retreat slowly.

Kili’s cheeks and ears burned with an increasing blush.

“Wha-what?” He stammered, not quite certain he’d understood the other correctly.

“Is say thank-you for help. My folk,” Fili specified, completely unfazed with the gesture of affection they had just shared.

This vacation truly got stranger with every passing minute. Although… Kili couldn’t really claim he minded.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

An arm wound around his waist, pulling him close to a warm chest and lips caressing the side of his neck. Leaning into the touch Kili hummed contently.

“Finally returned?” Fili breathed against his skin, allowing the brunet to feel the soft smile on his lips.

“Mh,” he confirmed softly.

“What were you thinking about?”

“The day we met,” he confessed, wiggling out of the one armed embrace and turning around to capture Fili’s lips in a kiss.

It still felt crazy, whenever he thought about it, but it also filled him with warmth, knowing how far they had come. How he had developed a crush after their first kiss, which was an innocent thing to do for the merfolk, but had left the wish for more inside him. How he’d found out that the lack of seawater transformed the fishtail into legs. The awful longing when Fili had to return to his kind days after Kili had found him, followed by heartbreak when his vacation ended and he had to leave, realising how fast a simple crush had developed into something deeper. Days spent with a terrible ache in his heart. Weeks morphing into months, until someday, out of the blue, Fili stood before his flat when Kili came home from work.

Months filled with learning about each other, about traditions of the merfolk and what kisses meant in Kili’s world. It was crazy, but he wouldn’t have it any other way, for it had brought Fili into his life. The most wonderful person he’d ever met.

“Silly human,” Fili murmured with a small, affectionate smile.

“Your silly human,” Kili corrected him with a smirk.

“All mine,” Fili agreed, kissing him once more.

 

 


End file.
